Water In Italy

Yes.

I fill my water bottle at the fountains around Rome when I need a refill. Never had a problem. You will see locals and other tourists filling their water bottles too.

It is ok to drink water out of the tap in Italy.
We have traveled 4 times there (most recently 2 weeks ago) in the last 3 years.
You will see those old fountains on the streets

The Romans knew a thing or two about moving water around. The water in Italy is fine to drink.

I've never done otherwise anywhere in western or central Europe.

Yes, tap water is very safe in Italy.

Wine is even safer... (that’s what I use to brush my teeth in Mexico).

Never had an issue anyplace in Western Europe. It’s fine. Central and South America is a different story.

The water in Rome is especially good and available for free at the various fountains around town.

Note: the water here in Greeley was voted the best tasting in the U.S.

Yes. Was there for a month in March and traveled to many cities. Drink up

In my experience, restaurants pretty much expect you to buy bottled water if you just want to drink water, though I have seen carafes of tap water on tables where people were also drinking wine. If you plan to order bottled water, you should specify non-fizzy if that is your preference. The default in Italy always seems to be fizzy water. I don't remember the proper terminology. It's a good idea to examine the bottle before it is opened, because servers have occasionally brought me fizzy water out of habit.

As the others have mentioned, yes, the tap water is safe to drink in Italy. I've never had a problem in many years of travel. Greece is a different story.

Yes.

Having said that, we did stay in one hotel in Sicily where the hotel said their water was non-potable. They did provide free bottled water for use.

Although tap water is perfectly safe, it is not a local prectice to serve tap water in a restaurant and it is not a local customs to ask for tap water in restaurants. It is pretty much expected that you will order bottled water, and that is actually the very first thing the server will ask you: whether you want sparkling water or not, or maybe both (one bottle of each).

The Italian word for sparkling water is FRIZZANTE (sparkling) or also GASSATA (“gassed”, “carbonated”).
If you don’t want sparkling then order ACQUA NATURALE (no need to translate I hope). I wouldn’t say the default is sparkling, on the contrary if you don’t say they’ll probably bring natural, but in most cases they will ask you which you like, or if you’d like both (in a party of more than 2, Italians often order one bottle of each).

Although you might be tempted to demand tap water, however the savings would not be worthwhile to you, but it’s a big markup for the restaurant, and they might do something nasty to your dish out of spite for your cheapness.

Bottled water is dirt cheap in Italy, it costs just cents per liter at the grocery store, and about 2€ for a one liter bottle at a restaurant) so even after the huge restaurant mark up it will still be very cheap for you (maybe 2€ a bottle).

I drink the tap water and the water out of the fountains. I am in a small town near Modena for about 5 months of the year and can tell you that I don't know of any locals that drink the tap water. I have commented on the sheer number of plastic bottles that I see being purchased in a small town.